iTherefore Conclude
by hyperactivecheskie
Summary: Carly FINALLY goes on a date with Freddie. But by the way her two friends are acting, she slowly comes to a conclusion.
1. iHave a Date

**Title: iTherefore Conclude**

**Disclaimer: i not own Carly. Not own Sam. Freddie also, not. i only normal. not genius.**

Carly couldn't believe it herself. After turning Freddie down for the 657,042,588th time, she was agreeing to go out on a date with him. In front of Fried Chicken and Sam, she said yes. To be exact, she said "If I watch "Sappy Feet" with you, will you give it a rest?"

Sam dropped her chicken on the floor, not even bothering to pick it up (and she ALWAYS picks it up). Even Freddie, totally expecting another rejection, fell off his chair. Gathering himself, he stood up, pumped his fists in the air and ran out of the room. Although, he did come back in, pretended to be cool, and said "tomorrow around 7?" When Freddie left, Carly drew out a sigh and locked eyes with Sam—who was still neglecting the piece of meat she dropped on the floor.

"What?" the brunette asked, as if it was no big deal.

"You and FREDDIE?! Carly! He's… our tech wiener. You know I support you kiddo but," Sam stood up placed the back of her hand on her friend's forehead as if to feel her temperature, "are you sick?"

Carly laughed. "No… I just figured he won't ever stop until I go out with him on a real date and not just for lunch. So, you know, it's one night. He'll realize I'm not the one for him and just… stop."

Sam frowned and sat back down. "But what if it backfires? What if you end up liking him" she shuddered at the thought.

"I wo-" Carly started, but she was cut off.

"No, think about it! If you get together… I'll be the 3rd wheel."

Carly gave her a half-smile and draped her arm around her best friend's shoulder. "Are you jealous?"

"Well… if you guys are gonna get all couple-y… yeah! You're not going to spend as much time with me…"

Laughing, Carly clarified. "No. I meant will you be jealous of me if I get with Freddie?"

The blonde tentatively stepped back and looked at Carly as if she had booger dangling from her nose.

"What? Do I have booger dangling from my nose?"

"No. It was what you said. Dude… Me plus Freddie equals vomit."

"Is that a hypothesis or a theory?"

"No. It's a postulate. But that's—"

"Well I think it's just a hypothesis"

"Carly" Sam warned in her monotone, don't mess with me voice. At this point, she was a little bit infuriated. Her best friend wasn't taking her seriously. Really, this was a bit of a problem. Freddie, no matter how big of a Nerdtron, was actually a pretty decent guy. She wouldn't find it hard to believe if ever Carly fell for him.

Carly eyed her friend seriously. "I promise it's not going to happen. IF I fall madly in love with our dear Fredward, you will not be the third wheel."

Sam, still a bit anxious about the matter, decided to agree and just give it a rest. "Ok. I believe you."

After a lengthy pause, the brunette asked again. "Are you sure you're not jealous?"

Sam punched Carly playfully on the arm. "No. Besides… Freddie only notices you most of the time anyway. It won't be that big of a change. If it will be a big change: who cares?!"

Carly just nodded. She knew Sam well. And in this matter, she figured that Sam was jealous—the girl just didn't realize it yet. Her best friend was very intuitive on what other people were feeling or thinking. But when it concerned her, she was usually oblivious. But before Carly could ever jump to conclusions with anything, she had to have evidence. That Sam was jealous was simply a hypothesis to the question why she was acting that way. Then again, her gut was sticking to it. And Carly's gut was never wrong.


	2. iNcest?

Carly and Freddie's first date was, thankfully, not a disaster. However, it was no more special than anything they usually did together. Freddie picked her up at precisely 7 pm. Being the perfect gentleman, Freddie brought her a flower—a single yellow rose, thoughtful yet predictable. They went to the theater. Freddie paid, although Carly offered to chip in. After the movie, they went to Groovy Smoothie for a drink. They talked, they laughed and they bonded. It was fun for both of them. It just wasn't as life-altering as Freddie thought it would be, much to his disappointment.

The whole date, he was searching for that one moment where their friendship would suddenly blossom into romance. He'd seen it in movies hundreds of times. It could be a look, an accidental touch, a slip of the tongue or a kiss on the cheek. He just wanted that one moment. But the date was almost over. He opened the door to her apartment and led her inside. He was going to leave any time soon, and they were no more than what they were a day ago. Standing in front of Carly, his dream girl, he decided to take the bull by the horns. 'Carpe Diem!' was his last thought before suddenly leaning in to for a quick peck on the lips.

A kiss! Finally he kissed her! And she didn't slap him! But standing there, studying each other with wary eyes, he didn't feel vindicated. She was supposed to sigh, give him a small smile and then take his head with her hands and lead him towards her for another kiss. Instead, she looked nauseous. The biggest surprise to him, though, was how he felt about the kiss. Short as it was, it gave him a sudden rush of emotion. But it was not butterflies in his stomach, nervousness or passion. It was shame. As if he did something illegal. Then it was replaced by a wave of love and concern for his best friend.

"Carly… I… I…"

"Freddie it's ok… it's"

"Don't…. I'm sorry" he opened his arms motioning for her to give him a hug. She obliged and squeezed him tight in her arms.

"Carly…. I can't breathe…" Both burst out laughing as they separated.

"Freddie…" Carly started to say in an endearing tone.

"No, don't say anything. Argh! This is so wrong," Freddie started to say as he ran his fingers through his brown hair. "I've been crushing on you for so long. But when I finally kissed you it was… like…"

"Incest?"

"EXACTLY!"

"Maybe you…"

"I've been thinking about this date, analyzing it on how it should go, what I should say and the right gestures. But when I finally… it just didn't follow!" Freddie said as he was pacing back and forth.

"Maybe I'm just not the right girl." He stopped to look at her, as if suddenly making sense of everything. It didn't last long for he started pacing and ranting again.

"Well, if not you, then who? Carly, you've been the only girl I've ever looked at since, what, the second grade? When you're near I don't even look at any other girl, much less notice them. Like, whenever you walk into the room, all my attention goes to you 100 percent and nothing ever distracts—"

"You're back! What's up Carls? Fluffy?" A blonde head descended from the stairs and greeted them.

Defensive, Freddie yelled, "IT'S NOT MY FAULT! THE DOG HUMPED MY LEG!!"

Not stopping, Sam continued to walk towards the front door, "Whatever. Go grab a chew toy. I need to go." Passing by the center table in the living room, she grabbed the smoothie on top of it.

"That's my smoothie!!" Freddie objected.

Sam, not stopping, pivoted with her right foot and started to walk backwards. "Snooze you lose. Bye Carly."

"Later Sam," Carly gave her friend a smile and wave as the latter pivoted again and walked out the door.

Still looking at the door, an irritated Freddie deadpanned "Can you believe it?!"

Carly, shifting her eyes from the door to the back of Freddie's head, replied "Actually, I can." Her eyebrows raised as she smirked at her friend. He may need a little help seeing what she saw unfold right before their very eyes.

"So, what where you saying Freddie?" she asked sweetly.

The boy turned back around to look at her. "Well…"A look of trying to recollect the moments past was evident in his eyes. "Ah. I was saying how you're the only one I ever look at."

"And?"

"And when my attention is on you nothing… nothing ever…" Freddie slowed down, with a sudden look of realization. "Ever distracts me…" He took a short pause then a sudden, loud gasp. With eyes wide open and his mouth forming an O, he pointed at the door then back at Carly.

"Uh-huh. You were saying?"

_sooo.. this chapter has been done for a while. i was just holding it off until i finish half of chapter 3. but.. i have writer's block!! damn. can anyone make suggestions for chapter 3?_


	3. iPhoned

**disclaimer: not miiiine**

"Freddie?" Carly tilted her head to study her friend. She raised her eyebrow at his glazed eyes and slacked jaw.

"Sam.." He said, letting the three letter word roll off his tongue. He focused his eyes back at her, an almost scared expression on his face. "You don't think... that I.. like... HER. Don't you?"

"Actually..." Carly was going to say yes. But when she saw the wide-eyed look he gave her, she hesitated. "Nah, I was just kidding." He let out a deep breath as she giggled. "Why such a reaction?"

"Because! I mean... why would you think that?" Freddie contorted his face in what seemed to be something in the middle of confusion and amusement.

"You guys are fighting all the time--"

"Exactly"

"It's like Rob and Harmony from Henry Popper"

"Oh," He nodded his head and puffed his cheeks in a gesture of acknowledgment and gave this some thought. He shrugged, brushing it off in a way that said literature shouldn't be taken seriously. Then he looked at her with a slight smile, "But I want you to know... The reason we broke up is not because of any third party."

Carly laughed at his slight attempt to go back to flirting. She playfully punched him on the shoulder. "I understand," She said in a mock-solemn voice before plopping on the couch to watch television before he followed suite.

After an hour or so of random channel surfing and small talk about the first week of sophomore year in high school, Freddie bid Carly a farewell and she walked him out the door. Before leaving, he hesitated and touched on the subject once more, "I really thought you were my perfect girl." The brunette simply smiled and gave him another hug. "You'll find her," she whispered in his ear.

She turned around and proceeded to her usual night time rituals. All the while, thoughts of the day ran through her head. It was a weird feeling of freedom that she felt now that Freddie was off her back. But at the same time, she was going to miss his random flirting. She was a girl after all and, more often than not, a guy giving a girl extra attention was always a good boost on the ego. Then she thought back to all those years that Freddie had tried to win her over. Why didn't she fall for him? She shrugged to herself as she dried her hair and changed into her pajamas. Everything was in place. He was not bad looking, he gave her attention, he was nice, friendly, smart. Yes, maybe he was a little bit of a dork, but dorky guys are fun to be around. Even with all of this, for the life of her, she could not at all come up with a concrete answer to why she never fell for him.

These thoughts still ran through her head as she picked up her toothbrush and generously applied toothpaste on it. The moment she placed it in her mouth, her cellphone rang. She walked out of her bathroom and grabbed the phone off her bed. She snuck a glance at the caller ID and mindlessly clicked on the talk button then delicately balanced it between her shoulder and ear. After muttering a toothpasted hello, she heard Sam's voice on the other end.

"So how was The Date?" Sam asked, putting extra stress on the last two words.

"Iwuzhohkey buh--"

"Spit out your toothpaste," her friend interrupted. Carly bent over and spat the foam. She quickly swashed some water in her mouth before cleaning her toothbrush and putting it back in its container.

"It was great. But it didn't work out."

"Great but didn't work out? Contradictory terms... spill"

"It was going fine but, right before you came in the room, he kissed me--" at this moment Carly heard Sam do a spit take. Poor girl was probably drinking some water. She suppressed a laugh as an image of Sam came to mind.

"WHAT?? Are you crazy? Never EVER share food with me ever again."

"Stop overreacting, _he_ kissed _me_," she said as she stressed on the fact that it was the guy who took the initiative. "But that's when we realized it wouldn't work out. It didn't feel right. So we decided to just be friends."

"Like, forever?"

"Yea, forever."

There was silence on the other end except for the slight sound of Sam forming her next coherent thought. "Wow, I actually feel sorry for the guy. Busted by Carly Shay..."

"Well.. He felt the un-rightness of it too, so I wouldn't worry," she said as she imagined Sam nodding on the other end.

"You know what?"

"What?" She asked as she heard the two of them collapse on their beds simultaneously.

"I feel sorry for the next girl he's going to obsess over."

"Why do you say that?"

"She's going to have to live up to you."

* * *

**Sorry sooo sorry for the long update. School and work and more school. Plus I had writer's block and didn't know what to do with it. Now I know exactly what I'm doing and I've thought things through. Sorry for the lack of juiciness in this chapter. There's a reason for all of it, though. Also, I'm going to follow Carly's POV in third person. So basically, you only see what Carly sees. BUT.. once the juicy parts come in I will be making separate/accompanying oneshots following Sam's, Freddie's or Spencer's (yes SPENCER's) POV. **

**Also, you won't have to wait long for the next chapter. I already have it ready and will be uploading it as soon as you lot review... or not. I'll upload it anyway. ;)**


	4. iTry Out

**disclaimer: :D. except for the asian dude, nothing's mine  
**

**Chapter: iTry Out  
**

For the first week since that fateful date, Freddie would occasionally revert to his old habit of staring at Carly or hugging her too tight. There would also be occasional bouts of awkwardness between the two, of which Sam would then be the one to play bridge. As time passed, it got better and their relationship was slowly becoming what it was, minus Freddie's obsession.

During the second week, they arrived at school and discovered a busy Monday. The hallways were littered with flyers, posters and desks full of students urging others to join clubs. Carly waved at the student government table where they were convincing freshmen to run for 9th grade representatives. Carly, being one of the 10th grade reps, was reminded to drop by later in the afternoon for her shift and man the table. She gave a nod as the three continued down the busy halls and looked at different flyers.

"Hey are you Asian? Join the Asian Culture Club!" One person said as he stopped Carly and waved a flyer in front of her face.

"What? I'm sorry... I'm not Asian," she said, slightly confused.

The person blushed a tiny shade of red. "Oh... Oh! Sorry. Well, here's a flyer anyway." He handed the flyer to her and ran off, targeting another oriental looking student.

"Do I... look Asian?" A bewildered Carly asked.

"Well, you do have small eyes and dark hair," an amused Freddie offered as he studied her face.

"You could pass for half. Dude! You're an interracial baby!" Sam pointed out as the trio laughed and went on their way. Freddie waved at the AV club and the yearbook staff who had their tables next to each other on account of most of the members had joined both clubs. Sam noticed this and asked the two when their meetings were going to be held once club days started.

"Tuesdays," Freddie answered in unison with Carly who added "Thursdays" to her answer.

"So what am I gonna do on Tuesdays when both of you are in meetings?"

"...rob a bank?" suggested the boy playfully to which Sam answered with a push. Freddie recovered and adjusted his backpack on his shoulders. He bumped Sam with his hip as revenge and continued walking alongside them.

"Why don't you join a club?" suggested their best friend.

"Like what?"

"...Culinary?" The girl asked as she spotted the culinary club table offering various cupcakes and brownies. The three weaved their way through the number of people signing up and grabbed their fair share of baked goodies.

"No. All they do is bake sales. They don't even keep the food for themselves. No way," Sam said as she licked the icing off her Oreo flavored cupcake with gusto, all the while smearing some icing on the sides of her mouth. She smacked her lips in approval.

"Yes. We don't want her to destroy the kitchen or eat all of their food," Freddie mentioned as he carelessly wiped the side of Sam's mouth with the napkins he grabbed from the culinary table, and then he offered another wad to Carly which she took. He was, off course, referring to Sam's disastrous first job in Chili My Bowl.

Carly gave a myriad of suggestions, mentioning organizations off the top of her head: History ("I failed history... twice); School paper ("And what, write about politics?"); peer counseling ("I would be the reason they go crazy"). Carly mulled over the possible alternatives to her best friend getting bored and doing nothing, or getting bored and getting in trouble as said best friend shot down the ideas one by one.

Freddie spotted a flyer on the floor with a picture of a flying shoe. He picked it up and looked at it carefully, scanning the details written on it in bold, Arial font.

"Track," he said. The two diverted their attention at him. He raised the flyer and showed it to them. Apparently, try outs were that afternoon.

"Track," he repeated himself. "You're the fastest person I know. With track, all you do is run and you get multiple days off during tournaments."

Carly looked at Sam with a hopeful nod. Track and Field wasn't a bad idea at all. Sports, why hadn't she thought of that? It made perfect sense. Sam would get to release all her pent up energy and she can get classes off for some days. If Sam liked it, it'll give her enough reason to raise her GPA a little bit since varsity members had a minimum grade requirement. Sam sucked her lower lip in deep thought. Then she slowly nodded.

"Track and Field... That's... not a bad idea. Fame, popularity and cool jackets. Yeah I think I'll give it a try," she grinned at Freddie as she took the flyer from his hand. "You have some use after all."

Later that afternoon, Carly rushed to the field right after her shift of manning the table was over. Sam's try out had started 45 minutes ago and she was pretty sure warm ups had already ended. If she hurried, she would be able to catch Sam's run. When she arrived at the bleachers, she spotted Freddie who waved her over. His eyes beamed as he picked up his backpack and fingered the strap while Carly walked towards him.

"It's over?" Carly asked, breathless.

"Yeah, they're just cooling off and stretching. Sam was amazing. You should have seen her go," he started narrating the entire experience as they walked down the steps and to the front of the locker rooms. He did multiple hand gestures to show how Sam had sped past all of her competition during the 200 meter dash. Then during the 800 meter one, Sam had done a Michael Phelps. She saved up her energy, and kept to third place more than half of the way. Then during the final stretch of the run, she had a sudden burst of energy and won second place. Freddie pointed out that she was the only one wearing Chucks and, if she had brought proper sneakers, she would have won for sure. The track team was going to have another round of try outs tomorrow, Freddie told Carly, and Sam would have to face some of the veteran runners.

"She's gonna get in, though. I've never seen anyone run as fast as her," Freddie told Carly in confidence as they waited for Sam to come out. Carly studied Freddie quietly with a smile as he said all this. She had never seen him this excited since they had gotten new equipment for the AV club. Just as she was opening her mouth to comment on Freddie's enthusiasm, both of them caught sight of a sweaty Sam, a big grin on her face.

"Yo yo yiggitiyo!" She swaggered towards them, wearing the school shorts and shirt that the coach apparently let her borrow because she didn't bring any gym clothes.

"Sammy!!" Carly jumped up and down in glee. She spread her arms and gave her best friend a hug.

"I'm sweaty!" Sam exclaimed after Carly wrapped her arms around her.

"Well, you should've told me that before I hugged you!" Carly laughed when she backed away and wiped down the drops of sweat that stuck on her arms and shirt.

"That was a great run," Freddie complimented as he reached out and offered to carry her bag. The blonde girl gave him a smirk and shook her head, signaling that she was cool with carrying it on her own.

As they prepared to leave, they noticed some of the runners leave the locker rooms, a bunch of them were laughing and discussing the possible new recruits.

"Hey," a guy called out to them as he passed by. The three turned their heads to look at him. He was tall with a lean, muscular built. He had short spiky hair, a bronze tan and chinky, hazel eyes. On his face was a wide, bright smile. Carly squinted slightly and noticed it was the guy who had mistaken her to be Asian. He smiled at her first, then at Freddie and, lastly, at Sam. Giving her a thumbs up, he said "you did good, Speedy. I'll see you tomorrow," and with that he winked and ran off to join his friends.

Sam tilted her head to the side as she followed him walk off with her eyes. "I think I'm going to like track."

The two girls giggled as their boy companion scowled in the fading sunset.

* * *

**A/N: Ooohh.. new character? hehe. I hope you guys liked it. Watch out for the next one.**


	5. iNeed Body Heat

**disclaimer: i am not entitled to ownage. but i hope you review my lack of ownage  
**

**iNeed Body Heat  
**

It was the first really cold October day of the school year. Carly was waiting by her locker with Freddie. The two were discussing the show they were planning to shoot that night when they heard a familiar pair of footsteps shuffle toward them.

"Hey"

"Hey Sam... What's wrong?" Carly asked as Freddie and she looked up. The blonde's shoulders were hunched over and her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her jeans. She was dragging her feet as she approached Carly's locker.

"I need... body heat" she weakly said while she sniffed her nose. She tightened her shoulders a little bit then stiffly leaned on the brunette's shoulder.

"Poor thing," Carly said as she wrapped her arm around the other girl. "You're shivering," she rubbed her hand on Sam's back, hoping the friction of palm against shirt would be enough to warm the latter up. As she did so, Freddie silently took off his jacket and draped it around Sam.

"Ew. Freddie germs," she said, but the insult failed to create any impact. She gave Freddie a small yet thankful nod as he adjusted his jacket on her, making sure it wouldn't slip off.

"Carly, you have my PoliSci book, right? I need it for next class," Freddie asked. Carly nodded and Sam straightened her posture once more, allowing her friend to turn around and search the locker for the book. When Carly turned back, she found Sam was now leaning on Freddie and he was doing the back rubbing. Carly handed him the book and he gave Sam's shoulder a quick squeeze before stepping forward and taking it. He opened it and casually scanned a chapter.

"Caarrllyyy..." Sam whined.

"What?" She asked, visibly concerned.

The blonder girl pouted and peered at her with big blue eyes. "Body heeaaat..."

"Aaww.." Carly cooed at her like she would a three-year old. "Come here.." She said and her friend stepped into her outstretched arms. "Still cold?"

"Yea.. but the jacket helped," was the answer and, from the corner of Carly's eye, she saw Freddie give the chapter on presidential primaries a small smile.

"Come on," Carly said, "I'll take you to the clinic. You might be coming down on something." As this was said, the bell rang, signaling first period.

"Nah, I can go by myself. You go to your class," Sam said as she stepped back.

"No, it's cool," Carly started to say but Freddie chimed in.

"Yea, Carls, you'll be late and your class is in the opposite hall. I'll take Sam," he offered.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm FINE," Sam interjected but didn't do a good job of convincing them because she suddenly gave out a half-sneeze half-cough.

"Positive," He said. "My first class is on the way, anyway. What's some extra weight?"

"I can carry my own weight..." Sam objected again. But it was no use. She had already started resting her head on Freddie's chest.

"Don't kill her"

"I'll try not to"

Carly smiled at their retreating figures, mainly because she was amused at Freddie's ability to lie. She knew his class was nowhere near the clinic.

* * *

Sam was picked up by her mom from school. She was diagnosed by the school nurse with the flu and slight fever ("Ah, the indestructible Samantha finally falls down"). A little penicillin and some rest would do her good. That night, Sam was at home and didn't have the strength to shoot the webshow. So the two other iCarly staff members got the next best person-- Spencer. They did a few random things that night: a little bit of 'What am I sitting on,' some 'I Crush It', as well as showing off a few of Spencer's inventions, one of which was a soon-to-be-patented ice cream scooper that, according to Spencer, would take over the world if it hadn't spontaneously combusted.

At the end of the show, Freddie placed the camera on his tripod and stood in the middle of the two Shays.

"Before we leave, we want to do a random shout out to a few special people," Carly announced.

"Yep. Why don't you start Spencer?" Freddie nudged the older guy.

"I want," Spencer started in an almost-presidential monotone, "to greet the people of America and the world. Without your love and support I would never be the man I would be today... standing before you. Today, right now and here.... OH!!! And," he made a gesture with his hands and mouthed "call me."

"Oh-kay... What about you Freddie?"

"Hey you," Freddie stared at the camera in all seriousness and a wrinkled brow. "Yes you! Stop sending me wigs made out of horse mane!" He then ran his hand through his hair and added quietly "My hair's real..."

Carly and Spencer both looked at Freddie's hair curiously and simultaneously tugged a few strands. "Ow!"

"It is real!" exclaimed the only girl of the group. She then looked at the camera and pursed her lips, looking as if she was trying to remember something. "Hmm.. I think that's it, right guys?"

"Yea... I think so"; "That's it, uh-huh"

The three looked at each other and nodded in agreement that they hadn't forgotten anyone. Then suddenly they rushed to the front of the camera and yelled at the top of their lungs "Get well Saaam!!!". Freddie then picked up Sam's trusty blue remote and cued a get well song he programmed for her.

* * *

The next day was a Saturday and Sam called in sick for her weekend track practice. She was dropped off by her mom, who had Saturday shifts, in the Shay apartment. By mid-afternoon, tissues haphazardly lay on the floor and they had almost run out of crappy DVDs to watch and channels to surf. Carly was sitting beside Sam, whom was tangled in blankets, when she heard the door creak open. It was Freddie. She smiled at him and his inability to knock.

"Greetings, I brought gifts!" He said as he sat on the other side of Sam and laid a plastic bag full of DVDs and a sealed plastic bowl on the coffee table. The two girls peered inside the bag, studying the DVD collection Freddie brought for them.

"Galaxy wars? ...Really?" asked an unimpressed Sam.

"Hey! That's the greatest cinematic achievement within the last fifty years!!"

As the two threw insults back and forth ("Techno geek", "Witch"), Carly popped the first Galaxy Wars installment into the DVD player. She sat back and watched the usual warning against piracy when she noticed the bowl Freddie brought in. She leaned forward and gestured at it.

"Hey Freddie, what's that?"

The two stopped and looked at the bowl.

"Oh. Yea I... mentioned to my mom that Sam was sick so she made some vegan chicken noodle soup"

"Vegan?" A disgusted Sam made a face as Carly eyed the bowl suspiciously.

Freddie smiled at them slyly, "Or so she thinks it's vegan". When the two seemed visibly confused, he wagged his eyebrows and said "I switched the ingredients". The two girls beamed at him after this little revelation. Carly was about to stand up and get some spoons when Sam asked a question.

"Wait. You did remember to heat it a little longer, right?" A thoughtful Sam took the lid off the bowl and inhaled the soup's scent.

"Um... what do you mean?"

"I mean vegan chicken chunks don't take as long to cook as real chicken chunks," she clarified.

Carly, suddenly realizing the validity of Sam's point, gave a sound of agreement and looked at Freddie. Their friend, oblivious to the world of cooking, made a small O with his mouth.

Carly rolled her eyes. "I'll heat it. It'll only take around 10 minutes maybe," she said as she picked up the bowl and went over to the kitchen. She worked on as the sound of Freddie and Sam's constant bickering ("Move!" "No, you move!" "I'm sick, you move!") in the background kept her company. A few minutes had passed by. The random insults died down and all that could be heard within the loft was the sound of laser beams from the television. After she deemed the soup done, she poured it into two bowls: one that she and Freddie could share from and another one for Sam and her flu germs.

She walked into the living room and found an amusing sight. Sam had invaded over Freddie's space and he was shooed to the edge of the couch. Sam, on the other hand, lay horizontally and her head rested on a pillow on Freddie's lap.

It was those kinds of moments that brought her back to her hypothesis of Sam and Freddie making a cute couple. But she supposed she'll never know until the two actually opened their eyes.

Two bowls of soup and two installments of Galaxy Wars later, the three teens were engrossed on the third chapter of the original Galaxy Wars (because, according to Freddie, "you need to watch the originals to appreciate the beauty of the prequels"). The two brunettes were on the edge of the couch while the blonde still had her head on the boy's lap and her feet propped on the girl's lap. At around 8:30 pm, the door opened and a bummed Spencer walked in. He threw his keys on the couch, hitting Freddie, and chucked his jacket to the floor. The three looked at the older Shay as Carly paused the DVD player.

"Back so early from your date?" Carly asked.

Freddie widened his eyes. He had always admired Spencer's charm with the ladies. "You were on a date? With who?"

"Jamie," Sam sat up and answered for him.

"Jamie The 2nd Floor Hottie?!" Freddie asked excitedly as Spencer gave a nod. He dragged his feet on the floor and collapsed on the couch... on top of the three.

"Spencer!" the three chorused.

"shhooorrry 'm juzh bmmd". His words came out muffled as he talked face first on the pillow on Carly's lap. His sister, feeling apathetic, pushed him off playfully. He landed on the floor with a thud.

"She was sooo hoooot!!" He whined as he stood up and navigated his way to the table by the counter.

"What happened? I thought she was your 'perfect girl'" Sam did air-quotes with her fingers.

"Well apparently perfect girl doesn't necessarily mean the right girl," Spencer gestured with one hand, "and nice, charming, funny and amazingly handsome artist doesn't necessarily mean the right guy," he gestured with the other. Suddenly his eyes landed on the television set, "GALAXY WARS!!!", and it was forgotten.

As the four squeezed on the couch made for three, Carly kept thinking about what Spencer had said. It wasn't about perfection. It was about getting it right. She smiled as she snuck a glance at her two friends. How very true.

* * *

**A/N**: **This actually started as a oneshot and really called iNeed Body Heat, from the beginning to the part that carly watches them walk away. It was in carly's pov and in present tense.. but then i figured it would be cute if I added it to this fic. So yea.. hopefully i pick up a few reviews from you guys, tell me how I'm doing.. what you like and don't like about the fic and how you think i can improve. thanks for lysapot24 for beta-ing the last chapter.. and for the usual reviewers.. :D**


	6. iMeet Ziggy

**disclaimer: dan will make seddie happen, not me.**  
**(who wants to push my review count to 30?!?!)**

**iMeet Ziggy**

Carly was waiting for the two by her locker so they could all go to lunch together. She looked up just in time to see her two best friends approaching. She smirked. They weren't just walking together. They seemed to be Walking Together. They weren't holding hands or being extremely close or anything like that. It was the subtle things that Carly could not ignore. Sam was laughing in amusement, likely at Freddie's expense, while he was running his fingers through his hair and a blush creeping up his cheeks. The way they walked betrayed them as well. The bottom of their shoes were brushing on the floor as they took their time, not caring if they reached their 5-minute destination in 15 minutes.

"What are you two laughing about?" Carly asked curiously as they did a complete stop in front of her locker.

"The Incredible Nerd is failing a class. I zoned out most of what he was saying though." Sam said as she took out her cellphone to read a text message.

Carly faced Freddie with a wide-eyed look of shock.

"I know," he smiled embarrassingly. "But it's just Culinary Arts!"

"Why.... are you taking culinary?" asked Carly, measuring her words right to not sound sexist.

"I thought it would be fun, just baking and cooking. I didn't know we had to learn and memorize the history of different foods and their origin!"

"I'm sure it's not that bad. It's only been two months worth of classes. You can still catch up..."

"That's already half-way. I need to get the rest almost absolutely perfect... I can't believe I didn't know what a flan was!"

Sam's ears perked at the sound of flan. "That Spanish dessert custard thing made out of egg yolks? I love those!" she said while still looking at her cellphone. When there was no answer, she looked up at Freddie and Carly's surprised expressions. "What? ...I love food."

Then it was as if a lightbulb appeared. "Why don't you tutor me?"

"Tutor you? ...Culinary and its history?" Sam was about to say no but something stopped her. "What's in it for me?"

"Sam, why can't you just do it for Freddie?" sighed Carly.

"Because I can't," she looked at him, her hands landed on her hips. "So, what's your offer Benson?"

A thoughtful Freddie tapped his index finger on his lips. "You need to keep a 2.5 GPA for track, right?

"Ugh. Don't remind me."

"What about... every Thursday, when Carly has meetings, you help me with Culinary. I help you with all of your other homework or anything that you have difficulty on."

"What if you DO my homework?"

Freddie sighed. "C'mon Sam. Just help. It's only fair. Deal?" He held out his hand for her to shake.

Sam stared at it for a while, contemplating the pros and cons of having her very own private tutor. Finally, she spat on her palm and shook his hand before he can pull away. He grimaced. Just when he was about to say something, Sam's phone rang and she pulled away. She smirked when she saw the name flashing on the screen and place her phone next to her ear.

"Sam here"

"How you doin?" A deep voice said in a fake 'Joey from FRIENDS' accent. Carly and Freddie didn't hear it from the phone, though. The sound came from somewhere around them. The trio turned their heads to look for the source and found an Asian guy approaching them.

"Hey!" Sam put her phone down and pumped her fist with the guy when he was close enough.

"So how's the hottest girl in the track team doing?" He asked as he leaned confidently on the lockers in such a cool, laid back way that most kids could only do in their dreams.

The blonde wrinkled her nose at him, "Shut up Zigfried. You say that to all the girls"

The young boy laughed. "Oh Samantha--" before he could continue, Sam thumped him on the forehead. "Ow! Sam! Sorry, Sam!" He laughed before continuing. "Sam... You know you're my favorite," he said playfully.

His eyes turned to Carly and Freddie. He straightened his stance and cleared his throat. "Hey there... friends of... Sam," he said in an awkward faux-baritone. He elbowed Sam and whispered, although loud enough for the others to hear, "Aren't you gonna introduce me?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Guys, this is Zigfried--"

"Ziggy," he put out his hand for Carly to take. Before she could introduce herself, he beat her to it. "Carly. I know," he grinned at her when she let go. She couldn't help but notice how white and straight his teeth were. "You Asian?" he joked.

Carly gave him an amused, yet questioning look.

"Club info day... all those flyers, you know.. got into my head and.. I must have been... high" he rambled sheepishly. "Yea! So you're Freddie?" He offered his hand to the techie who, Carly had noticed, was eyeing him up and down in disdain the entire time. When it seemed as if he wasn't going to take Ziggy's hand, Carly elbowed him discreetly.

"Hey," he greeted monotonously.

"Oh.. Kay... Very friendly crew you have here." Carly giggled. He wasn't bad. "So I'll see you tomorrow in track, gorgeous," Ziggy pointed at Sam with his finger.

"See'ya handsome," she pointed as he walked away.

"Nice meeting you, Ziggy!" Carly called after him. He looked back and grinned. Freddie, on the other hand, had his eyebrows furrowed together so closely, Carly thought he had formed a unibrow.

"He seems... nice" Carly commented. He was more than nice, actually. He seemed like a genuinely great guy, but she held her praises because she felt one particular person wasn't going to agree.

"What? He's jerk!" Freddie surprisingly--not!--countered.

Sam, quick to defend her new friend answered back "You don't even know the guy!"

"Yeah, I do. He's one of those big-headed jock types who think they're so cool just because he wears a stupid jacket," he said irritably.

"And you think you're cooler than him?" Sam raised her eyebrows.

Before Freddie could answer, Carly disrupted the escalating argument. "So guys! I heard they're serving mac and cheese today," she said, hopeful that the mention of food would distract them.

It did for Sam, "Finally, I'm starving!"

However, it didn't do the same for the less hungry friend. He quickly looked at his silver watch. "You guys go ahead, I have to go to the library. Later," he muttered, not even looking up at them as he said this. He left in a huff and with his backpack bouncing in contempt as he walked away.

"He is so weird," Sam murmured as the two girls proceeded to the cafeteria.

"So..." Carly started in an attempt to test the waters. "Ziggy's kinda cute..."

"Yeah... he's not bad," Sam shrugged.

"Looks like he was flirting with you too."

Sam made a face, "Nah. That's just how he is with girls, giving them random complements. He's pretty harmless."

"Oh... so he's a 'playah'," Carly said, accenting the last word.

The other girl looked up thoughtfully. "Hm... no. I haven't seen him with any girls lately. Actually, I haven't seen him with any girls at all," she shrugged once more. "I keep overhearing the guys telling him to go out of hiatus, though. I don't really know what that means... But what I do know is this," she said as she grabbed a tray and plate, "I'm starving!"

* * *

Freddie was silent the whole way to Bushwell plaza. He was two steps ahead of the girls and was kicking a flattened soda can as if it was a hockey puck. Freddie just said he didn't feel like talking. Carly didn't say anything after that, but she knew the real reason why he was feeling so irritable.

After 15 minutes of uncomfortable silence, Sam couldn't take it anymore. She hastened her step and walked beside Freddie. She stared up at him for several seconds before reaching out and tugging his pinky. Freddie looked at her. Carly could see the mental exchanges between the two.

Sam made a face and raised her left eyebrow as if to say "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Freddie dismissed her with a shrug and adjusted his backpack.

Sam stared at him narrowly and pursed her lips as if to study him. He merely looked down on his shoes and continued to kick the soda can hockey puck. Then in an attempt to get his attention, she swung her foot sideways and hit him on the back of his knees. His knees buckled a bit and he lost his balance, but Freddie caught himself just in time. He stared at her as she smiled at him defiantly.

Carly, watching from behind, thought Freddie would tell her off or get irritated. But to her surprise, he did the most daring thing she had ever seen him do. He grinned evilly and hooked his arm around Sam's neck and yanked her towards him. Sam's reaction surprised Carly as well. She, instead of pushing him away, merely elbowed him playfully on the ribs with enough force to make him side-step, but not enough force to make him let go. As Carly watched this exchange, she had to fold her lips together to keep from smiling. How those two could go from fighting to being extremely and sickeningly cute together was beyond her.

Just when she was thinking about abandoning the two in their own moment, both seemed to simultaneously realize how couple-y they were acting. So they stopped walking for a second and both looked back at their friend as Sam reached out her hand, motioning for her best friend to join them. The brunette obliged and caught up. So they walked like that on the way to Bushwell. Freddie's arm was lazily lounging on Sam's shoulders, Sam's arm casually linked through Carly's, and the flattened soda can lay forgotten on the sidewalk.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sure you've all seen the pictures. if not it's in every major seddie website. So because of the recent revelation, just to keep my fic canon-ish, I'm going to incorporate the knowledge that sam *SPOILER* had her first kiss w/ freddie.  
thanks for those who reviewed the last chapter: lysapot, starfreak01**, **music addict chick, musicfreak291, bashfullybeautiful92, believeinlove08**

* * *

I just want to use this space to give a background on Ziggy. You guys won't really get to know him since it's Sam who knows him instead of Carly, so here he is in my head.

Name: Zigfried "Ziggy" Xun  
Ethnicity: 1/4 Hawaiian-American, 3/4 Chinese  
Languages: English, Mandarin  
Age: 16 (junior/11th grade)  
GPA: 3.6  
Eyes: light brown  
Height: 5'10"  
Weight: 150 lbs  
(yea i like to think about my characters. lol. No, I'm not Chinese or Hawaiian. Just thought I'd make him one and different from my ethnicity. So.. he's a tan chinese guy. heh. I hope I didn't spoil your images with my image of him. If you want.. review and tell me how u imagined him! just so we can compare. lol)


	7. iHave a Field Trip

With a bowl of grapes an arm away and her soda on the coffee table, everything was in place. Carly sat on the couch, her legs tucked comfortably under her, and opened her PearBook. It was wonderful having been dismissed early. Now she had some alone time and she wanted to spend it studying. Alright maybe not studying as much as procrastinating by surfing the internet, but it could work. She rolled her shoulders, feeling and hearing the knots on her back pop, and clicked on the Surfari icon.

She was checking her messages on her SplashFace when she heard the door burst open. She assumed it was Spencer, but when she glanced at the door, it wasn't her older brother but a distracted younger boy who busied himself adjusting his collar.

"Spence can I-- oh, Carly.." Freddie stopped when he saw that it was Carly staring up at him from the couch. "I thought you had a meeting today," he continued while tugging at the collar of his button down shirt. He then fingered the lapels of his coat jacket, suddenly becoming aware of how overdressed he looked in the backdrop of the colorful apartment.

Carly closed her laptop and set it aside. "Why, you look mighty snazzy," she said as she walked up to him. She took it upon herself to fix his cluttered collar and jacket, then she turned her attention to his hair. Freddie moved his head to avoid her concerned hands, but to no avail.

"Yeah, well, um.." he said as Carly fussed over him, "I kind of need to borrow a tie." Carly made a sound of acknowledgment and continued with the mothering. When she deemed his appearance acceptable, she took a step back to admire her work.

"You look good and, unless you want duck covered ties care of Socko's brother, Tyler, then I suggest you keep the getup tie-less."

Freddie agreed. He adjusted his jacket once more while Carly assured him that he looked good. She asked him where he was supposed to be going. Freddie paused awkwardly, then told her was going to this fancy French restaurant with an unpronounceable name. After this, he motioned to the door, telling Carly that he had better get going.

"So who are you going with, your mom?" She asked as she opened the door for him.

Freddie didn't answer until he had his back turned to her and he was halfway out the door. "Sam," he replied, his tone as monotonous as possible. Suddenly his breath got caught in his throat. Carly had grabbed the back of his collar and used it as a leash to drag Freddie back in the apartment. She pulled him inside and slammed the door shut.

Freddie rubbed his neck and made a sound similar to an injured puppy.

Carly stared at him for a second before interrogating him with a single sentence, "Sam, what, when, why, how?"

Freddie shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "We're trying authentic French food. For culinary," he tried to sound casual but his friend knew him better. You know how some guys try to sound cool and James Dean-ish when they're talking about something of importance yet pretending they don't care? Freddie was doing it and he was doing a pretty bad job.

"So you're on a date?" Carly smiled teasingly. This was going to be good.

"No," Freddie paused. He pursed his lips as he thought of the right word to describe this little rendezvous he was going to have with Sam in a few minutes. "It's... a field trip."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know you kids call dates 'field trips'," she said, complete with air quotes.

He denied it once more, "It's not a date ok?" he said with a lopsided smile. He explained that the week before, Sam, who was in the middle of explaining how escargot tasted, mentioned that learning about food wasn't enough, he had to eat some as well. She also let slip that her cousin had a part-time job as a busboy in this fancy, authentic French restaurant. Somehow, along the way, they found themselves agreeing on a day and time. However it was all for the sake of research and education. It was not a date, "SO not a date, so incredibly far from being a date that "date" is a foreign concept to me," Freddie assured Carly while she rolled her eyes and nodded sarcastically in the right places just to annoy him.

"But wait, do you... like Sam? In a going out to field trips but wishing it was more than that way?" She gestured with her eyebrows.

Freddie scoffed as if the idea was as far fetched as a hippo and a gorilla getting it on. "Carly," He started, but, at that exact moment, fate seemed to step in. The door creaked open and Sam's head popped in.

"Freddie?" She did the loft a quick once over and spotted her two friends. "Your mom said you were here..." her voice faded. She squeezed her way into the apartment and nodded, "Hehey, peoples." Sam raised her eyebrows and tucked the sides of her mouth deep into her cheeks, forming this reticent smile.

"I hear you're going to a fancy French restaurant?"

"Yeah... for the dork's research."

"But I thought you hated French?"

"No, I hated The French, not French food. Hating any kind of food would be like blasphemy," Sam said. "And it's a free meal."

"Who said I was the only one paying?" Freddie asked in a voice that suggested he had no idea Sam planned not to pay.

"Do you really want to take this road, Fredward?"

"No," he instantly backed out.

"So Carly, how come you're not in school," Sam asked as she walked over to the sofa to pop some grapes into her mouth.

"Oh, we were dismissed early"

Sam nodded. Her lips moved from side to side as if her upper lip was having a debate with her lower lip. And then, "wanna come?"

Out of obligation, Freddie echoed the invitation, "Oh yeah, do you?"

Carly's eyes went back and forth from Sam to Freddie then back again. Obviously, she wanted to spend time with both and them, and, hell, she was in the mood for some weird French food that would most likely make her vomit if she knew what it was really made of. However, date or not, this was their time together. It would be like Carly joining them in Wake Up Spencer; Freddie going to Build-a-Bra with them; or Sam sitting in on a leadership conference. "I'll pass," she politely declined.

"Well," Freddie slapped his hands together and rubbed his palms a little too quickly, "We have 45 minutes, and we should plan on arriving fifteen minutes early so we have to--"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get excited," Sam waved her hand in the air as she used the other one to grab the last piece of grape. She made a move towards Freddie's direction.

"Hold on, is that what you're wearing?" Carly asked as she eyed the blonde's jeans and shirt. The pants fit her and her shirt was minimally appropriate, meaning it was ironed. However it was such a stark contrast to Freddie's proper garb.

"What? I'm not in shorts and I wore heels, see?" Sam raised her left foot and rolled her ankles to show off that, yes, her shoe will make her three inches taller.

"No, no, no. No. You have to look nicer! Freddie's in a coat jacket and slacks and you're in jeans,"

Sam blindly flung her arm to the side and hit Freddie on the nose, "Ow! Must you resort to violence?" he whined.

"You're making me look bad," Sam folded her arms to her chest and eyed him with a disapproving look.

"Don't pass the blame, young lady. Come on, it will only take 15 minutes. I'll let you borrow one of my dinner dresses and you can wear your heels,"

"But we don't have the same size!"

"You know fully well that the only two garments we have different sizes of are pants and bras. We can share everything else!" Freddie made a choking sound at this little revelation. "But choose not to on some things," Carly clarified.

Sam, stubborn that she is, stoically shook her head. "No."

Carly sighed disappointedly and peered at her through long lashes. She blinked twice, tilted her head, then blinked once more.

"No, don't you dare. It only works on Spencer and Freddie," Sam warned. Too late. Carly was about to unleash her secret weapon.

"Please, for me?"

For a moment the two girls stood there. One was fighting with intimidation, the other fighting with charm.

Freddie shifted, Carly swayed, and Sam huffed. Finally, "Geez, woman! How do you do it?!" the blonde snapped as she stomped her way up the stairs.

Carly chuckled, amused.

"Yes, how do you do that?" Freddie finally spoke up.

Carly shrugged. "I have my ways."

"CARLY HURRY UP!"

"Oi... be back in a few."

Carly walked down the steps fifteen minutes later. "I must warn you," she said, "Sam says she doesn't care if she's in heels. She'll flip you over if you comment on how girly she looks."

"Oh, she wishes I'll comment," he rolled his eyes. When Sam walked down-- narrowing her eyes at Carly, awkwardly tugging on the straps of her dress and almost tripping on the way down-- he visibly bit the inside of his lower lip and was obviously trying to stop himself.

"Well, well you..." Freddie trailed with a restrained smirk. Sam landed on the bottom of the stairway and stopped in front of him. She eyed him threateningly, daring him to continue. Carly was in the background, eyes wide open and shaking her head. "Look... absolutely awful."

He smiled teasingly, right before he had to use his forearm to block Sam's fist.

**a/n: sorry this was late guys. comments, suggestions, criticism is very welcome. This fic is really slow. I need to figure it out.. But I'm glad that some people are still reading this. :)**


	8. iKnow Nothing

Carly buried her head in her American History book, searching the text for crucial information on Franklin D. Roosevelt. She had no clue what her professor was smoking when he made them write a script of how a conversation between former presidents Bill Clinton and FDR might go. Making a term paper that included properly cited facts, figures and statistics was a cinch. Having to get into the heads of two former presidents, one of whom didn't have enough videos on splashface for her to internalize, was different. Almost giving up, she banged her head on the wooden table. A bad idea. "Ow!" She yelped, her voice coming out a little muffled but loud enough to break the silence that Ms. Fingerly the Librarian held so dearly. Just as she had expected, she heard someone shush her from behind.

Carly turned around and expected to find Ms. Fingerly waving a finger around and hissing "Quiet-- this is a library!". Instead, she found Ziggy grinning at her.

"Mind if I sit down?" He asked. She gave him a once-over and nearly snorted when she found him wearing tiny red track shorts with the school logo-- a bulldog with the word "Ridgway" below it-- on the side. She motioned at the chair and granted him permission.

They dedicated some 30 seconds for the "How are you?" and "What's that your studying?" rituals before proceeding to the task at hand. Only the sounds of gliding pens and shuffling papers were heard as one concentrated on derivatives while the other was busy with Bill Clinton and FDR's respective extra-marital affairs. Not a word was uttered except for the occasional "this sucks" that was directed to no one in particular. As time flew by, the two students became visibly drained. Someone, Carly wasn't sure who, heaved a heavy sigh and declared surrender to the books. The other followed suit.

"You're watching the final track meet next month, yeah?" asked the boy when they caught each other's eye for the first time in almost an hour.

"You're not even sure if your team is going to the finals," Carly teased.

"Ah. We have a secret weapon." Ziggy glanced around, making sure no one was listening, before he leaned casually on the table. "S.A.M," he enunciated each letter as he smiled proudly.

Carly tipped her head with a serious look. "Have you registered her yet?" she asked then, almost instantly, snickered at her own quip.

He looked back at her in bland amusement. "Huh, Sam never mentioned you were dorky, Carly Shay," he said as he rested his chin on a propped hand.

Her eyebrows danced in bemusement as the edge of her lips tipped upward. Surprising. No one had ever called her a dork before.

"What, you two talk about me?"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "She was right about the vanity, though." Carly's eyes widened as her mouth dropped. He chuckled and she couldn't help but slap him on the shoulder as she muttered "Crazy person."

"You two get along, don't you?" She asked. He wasn't a bad guy, was not a jerk and seemed smart. It wasn't surprising if he got along with most people. The only reason she asked was, well, was because she knew Sam.

Immediately, he rubbed his palms together and pointed his lips to the side in thought. After a pause he opened his mouth, "Yeah, we're cool. And it's weird because... she hates_ everybody_." He smirked as Carly nodded in agreement. "She hates the girls in the team cuz they're too stuck up, she hates most of the boys cuz they stink," Ziggy started counting off with his fingers, "and she only likes the Coach because he gave her a free jacket... Sometimes, food, otherwise, she'd hate him too." They both shook their head in unison. There was another slight pause from Ziggy and a touch on his chin before he concluded with, "but she's, um, kind of awesome."

He said the last line with a certain tone that made Carly wonder. Somehow, curiosity got the best of her, "So what does that mean? Do you... like her?" Carly asked with her eyebrows once more playing on her forehead as her head tilted a fraction of an inch.

An amused breath escaped from her companion's mouth. He scratched his head. "Well, ok, she's very cute," he voice started to strain as he searched for the right words. A rough sigh was heard once more as he started playing with his fingers. "We're friends but-- well, aren't she and Freddie, like, together?"

"They... I don't..." Carly struggled. She paused for a second and a slight, wet sound was heard as she unhooked her tongue from the roof of her mouth. "I... I _think_ they have a _thing_ that I know _nothing_ about," she resolved. Then as if she felt she just betrayed her friends, she added a little disclaimer, "But maybe not. I'm not sure."

"Huh," Ziggy said as he nodded. Then a curious look appeared on his face. "Hold on, wasn't Freddie supposed to be head over heels 'in love' with you?" He asked, making sure to use quotation marks in some parts. Carly made a strangled noise as she opened her history book.

"This FDR-Clinton thing is too difficult!" She whined while fingering the ends of her hair.

"Ah." It seemed it was his turn to ask questions. Realizing this, he crossed his arms on the table and leaned towards Carly, "Why are you changing the topic?". He stuck out his lower lip and studied her as she turned the pages of her book a tad too quickly.

She did not like where this was going. Unfortunately, Carly was a little too passive-aggressive to say anything. When he continued to dig for answers, she finally looked up at him and poked him lightly on the chest, "You _need_ to study now." He rolled his eyes playfully in reply but moved back to his space and resumed his attack on derivatives.

Just as Carly thought they were both going back to the studying groove, she heard him say something. "Excuse me?" She asked as she looked up.

"What are you complaining about? I'm in a fucking wheelchair," he said as he diverted his attention from his math book to her eyes. When a surprised look greeted him, he clarified: "FDR. That's what Franklin Roosevelt should say when Bill Clinton starts complaining about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. But then maybe you should hold off on the 'fuck'" He started gathering his books and calculator but continued explaining to a dumbstruck Carly, "I'm in a wheelchair... and the Japanese are on my back," he added.

"How do you know these things?" an astonished Carly asked as she wrote his suggestion down.

"I dunno," Ziggy shrugged as he slung his duffel bag on his shoulder, "history?"

Carly rolled her eyes with a smile and thanked him. Ziggy gave her a small salute as he turned around. He took a step forward then hesitated. He turned back to look at her.

"They are," he said. Carly raised her left eyebrow, unsure what he was referring to. After fingering the strap of his bag, he added a "they just don't know it yet." She then understood.

"Quiet-- this is a library!" Ms. Fingerly caught them by surprise when she hissed from her desk. With that, Ziggy scurried off and left Carly back to her paper.

Later that night, Carly entered the loft and found her two friends on the diner table with an array of different foods laid out in front of them. Upon closer inspection, she could see that most of the colorful grub was unrecognizable. Freddie had a pen and paper in hand as he was analyzing the taste and texture of something in his mouth. Sam, on the other hand, sat across him with her Physics book and a calculator.

Carly made her presence felt with a simple "Do I really want to know?" as she placed her bag on the counter top, right beside the computer.

"Long test," Freddie muttered with his mouth full.

"Ditto," added Sam.

Curiously, Carly studied a plate of small, spherical, crunchy looking shells-- likely made out of dough. Beside the plate were two bowls, one filled with bits of potatoes and the other with green sauce. She looked closer and she could see herbs and spices floating in the thin sauce. A piece of folded cardboard was in front. _Pani puri_, it said.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Indian food," Freddie replied as he washed his mouth with water. "Don't try it. It's way too spicy," he warned as he jotted something down in his notebook.

"Weakling," Sam remarked, her nose still buried in her physics book.

Freddie made a mocking sound as Carly stifled a laugh. He then looked about the table for his next subject. Finally deciding on a plate that was labeled _paposas_, he grabbed one and cautiously took a bite. When he found the taste agreeable, he popped the rest in his mouth.

Carly continued to look around the table. She then found an unlabeled bowl of eggs. She picked one up studied it. It seemed to have a different color and some parts of the shell were lighter than the rest. Otherwise, it didn't seem all that special.

"What's this? Special foreigner egg?"

"Mature duck embryo. 14 days old" said Sam as she finally looked up with an evil smirk.

"Ew, gross!" Carly exclaimed as she quickly but gently placed the egg back down, aware that it may crack and slimy duck stuff might spill out if she dropped it.

"I know!" Freddie cried out, making that vein on his throat appear slightly. "I cracked it open and--" Freddie shivered to drive the point across.

"It's just duck. It's like turkey or chicken.. but unhatched," Sam formed a half oval with her hand, "and slimier. And it's cooked."

"You'll eat anything, Sam," Carly sighed as she sat took a seat and picked up a piece sushi for herself. Finally, she thought, something familiar.

"Which reminds me, how long has it been since I ate, Fredward?" asked Sam.

Freddie glanced at his PearPhone. "10 minutes."

Sam pointed with her lips at a plate beside him. "Egg tart," she ordered.

"Open," He said as he picked a tiny custard-like dessert. He reached across the table and inserted it in Sam's mouth. She chewed happily and both resumed with their work.

Carly shook her head with an amused smirk playing on her lips. Her friends were weird.

**A/N: hopefully this was up to par. I'm almost done.. probably two more chapters. so.. what do you guys think? And yes.. there was a reason why i made this more Carly-centric than usual and why i dedicated an entire section to just her and this Ziggy character.**


	9. iS Not Good

After weeks of stretching, morning runs, afternoon runs and controlling her affliction of sweating-- all worthy of a Rocky-esque montage complete with an uplifting musical score-- the day of the final track meet had arrived. Spencer was parking the car as Carly and Freddie entered the stadium where the indoor track field was located. Sam was already there, by the door of the female locker rooms. Her duffel bag hung on her shoulders as she held a Venti mocha-caramel latte from Skybucks on one hand. She acknowledged the two brunettes with her eyebrows, her mouth busy with nervously biting the top of her cup.

"How are you feeling?" a concerned Carly greeted.

Sam shrugged. "Not bad, I guess," she said with a voice subtly laced with nervousness.

"Here, let me carry your stuff for you," offered Freddie. Without even waiting for Sam to reply, he reached for her bag, which slid off her shoulder easily, and took the venti cup from her hands. Then without warning, he shot the cup into a trash can three feet away.

"Aaaarrgh," a visibly irritated Sam growled. Carly swiftly stopped her from doing anything else. "What was that for?!"

"You," Freddie pointed with his finger, "are not supposed to drink artificial stimulants right before the race. Coach's orders."

"That cost me four dollars, Benson," Sam said with gritted teeth as Carly wrinkled her forehead in amusement.

"That you got from my wallet?"

"It's called secretly borrowing," she corrected as she retrieved a brown wallet from her track pants. She tossed it to him and he, after a little fumble, pocketed it.

Carly sighed and, finally, made her voice heard. "Ok, just so you two can stop arguing, Freddie give her something to drink."

"I was going to," and he started digging through Sam's bag, "if she only let me finish." Finally, he took out a purple sports bottle and tossed it to her, which she caught with ease. "Here, water."

Sam studied the bottle in curiosity and then used it to point at him, "Where'd you get this?"

Freddie rolled his eyes at her. "I put it in your bag last night. And, no" he added when he noticed Sam had opened it and sniffed the contents, "I didn't poison it."

"Are you happy now?" Carly questioned her best friend in a motherly fashion.

Sam took a sip. Freddie and Carly could have sworn they heard her say, "Stupid flavorless liquid," before she did so. The two brunettes eyed each other. They grinned after silently confirming amongst themselves that Sam had indeed said it.

Watching track, Carly and Freddie discovered, wasn't as exciting as they had expected. The only time it was exciting for them was when Sam was part of the race, which she only was in two events. Unfortunately, they had to sit through the rest of the events that neither of them cared about.

Finally, it was minutes before Sam's last event-- the 600 meter dash.

"You did really well on the relay. Don't worry," Carly said encouragingly as she leaned over the bars that separated them. Sam hung on the metal railings, letting her body sway from side to side.

"Yea but that's different. This is all me now," Sam looked back at the oval. She eyed a tall brunette girl who walked over their side of the audience and started talking to Shannon. Her expression narrowed as she grumbled, "And I really want to beat that Briarwood chick."

"Getting a little too competitive, are we?" Freddie rested his chin on the rails and put on an impish grin, "Whatever happened to playing for the love of the sport?"

Sam replied by thumping him on his forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you? Momma plays to win."

*

"Momma is THE FASTEST GIRL IN THE WORLD!" Sam declared as she skipped and jumped towards the female restroom with Carly in tow.

"I'm glad you're going to be immortalized in Ridgeway history, but really, I have to go pee," Carly interrupted her joyous celebration.

"Carly, I just beat a school record-- which is not related to eating or number of school offenses. And I'm going to get a trophy. A TROPHY!" Sam leaped and raised her hands for emphasis. "It will say Fastest Girl in the World--"

"--Sam Puckett," a disembodied voice floated through the ajar door of the restroom.

Carly and Sam gave each other a curious look. They both pressed their backs against the wall and reached out their heads in an effort to eavesdrop. The need to urinate had been forgotten.

"She may be quite vertically challenged, but she can run. She wasn't that fast last time we crossed paths," the voice continued. Sam looked at Carly and mouthed _Briarwood chick_.

"Mmhmm," came a muffled sound, likely from someone re-touching her lipstick.

"Hold on," the Briarwood chick started to say in a teasing tone, "Shannon, dear cousin, isn't Puckett one-third of the iCarly kids? So she's friends with that Freddie boy you've been gushing about since forever!"

From their position, Sam stuck out her tongue and gave a vomiting gesture. Then there was a shuffle of cosmetic items right before Shannon gave her reply. "Excuse me, I am over Freddie"

"You were gushing about him just last week."

"Ok, I was! Getting over someone is a long process!"

Briarwood chick took this time to chuckle. "Well, you better start now. From that prolonged congratulatory hug I witnessed between him and Puckett, I don't think he'd be chasing after you anytime soon," she said knowingly. Carly nudged Sam, her eyes twinkling as she waggled her eyebrows. Sam gave her a disgusted look. The blush on her cheeks, however, was unmistakeable.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it won't last. Everyone_ knows_ she's Freddie's rebound after being brutally rejected by Carly time and again. You know how boys are."

Carly froze. Her eyes shifted quickly towards Sam. Her friend's expression changed from shock to embarrassed to anger. When her color turned a furious red, Carly immediately, by instinct, grabbed her elbow to prevent her from storming into the bathroom. _This is not good_.

**a/n: dundunn.. This was supposed to be longer. But I decided this would be a good spot to end the chapter. I said last time there will be 2 chapters left. But since I ended this chapter prematurely, the next one won't be the last. So.. how am i doing? Tell me whatcha thunk.  
**


	10. iMpossible

The glow of the TV shone on the center of the living room and bounced off a very distracted face. Carly kept thinking back to that day. Everything had been so weird, for lack of a better term.

When Sam heard Shannon's comment, Carly had to grab her arm and remind her that Madame Teen Therapist would not appreciate if all their calming exercises were thrown out the window. As always, Sam heeded Carly's advice. That was a good thing. The bad thing was that she did not rant about how Shannon and everyone else should just jump into a pool of piranhas. She didn't say that she would love nothing more than to tie a honey covered Shannon to a tree right beside an ant hill-- and not to a hill of black ants either. Neither did she enumerate the reasons why she will never consider Freddie a potential life partner. Instead, she just turned around and left. This was a scary sign. A very scary sign, indeed.

She watched Sam stomp away and Carly's brain told her to follow and make sure she wasn't going to go Godzilla on unsuspecting students. However her heart told her to heed mother nature and go wee-wee. And if she ever learned something from Spencer worth remembering; it was to follow your heart and that mother nature should never be ignored. She was merely following those two important life rules.

After heeding the call, Carly rushed out of rest room and hurried back to the bleachers. Images of Freddie on the floor being creamed by Sam flashed before her eyes. She turned a corner and scanned the seats--_ Please don't let there be blood. I hate blood_. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she saw Freddie smile and wave at her, seemingly unharmed. No bruises, bloody lips or messy hair. He was fine.

She waved back. Then out of nowhere, she felt a hand on her arm. When she looked over at the owner of the hand, she found very sweaty male.

"Oh, hey," she said as she eyed Ziggy's shorts. "You look sexy," she mocked.

He gave her the tiniest smile and at that instant she knew there was something the matter.

"What's up?" She asked with a frown.

Ziggy scratched his head. "Uh. I don't know... I wanted to ask about Sam. She just, um--"

"Zigfreid!" A voice interrupted. Both glanced at its source to find the coach motioning at Ziggy.

"Oh, talk to you later Shay," He said quickly as he rushed back to their team bench.

Confused and slightly feeling the urge to sass someone, Carly went back to her seat.

The day continued to not be what she expected. First of all, Sam was supposed to go up on stage, get her trophy and leave with the Shays. Did not happen. Second, they were all supposed to celebrate together and scarf down obscene amounts of cake and meat together. Did not happen. Third, the three of them were supposed to hang out, which usually goes hand in hand with the aforementioned. Did not happen. Sam did go up on stage and she did get her trophy. But after that, she merely waved at Carly and Freddie, approached her mom and they drove off. This led to not getting to eat cake or meat or any other forms of edible good things; as well as leading them to not hang out. Sam was at home, probably scheming a diabolical scheme, that only she can scheme, against Shannon and whoever thought she and Freddie were secret super sweethearts. Freddie was, well, he was in Freddie land doing Freddie things.

Carly sighed on her chair as she flipped the channels in a rhythmic pattern. Flip, flip, pause, flip, pause, flip.

By the second round of the flipping combination, the door creaked open. She turned to find Sam dusting off her shorts and tucking the hairpin back in her pocket. Sam strode over to the couch and collapsed beside Carly.

"So" Carly drew out.

"So," Sam lazily replied as she continued to stare at the screen.

"Ziggy asked me about you."

Sam arched her back and sank deeper into the couch as she heaved a throaty sigh. "If you're digging for information: I asked him out."

Carly stared at Sam, hoping that the act of not blinking would cue her to continue. Instead, what she got was Sam reaching into her pocket and taking out a stick of string cheese. She sniffed it gingerly and took a bite. "Cheese."

Carly reached over and snatched the cheese out her hands.

"Hey!"

"I only feed cheese to people who tell their secrets!"

"What's the big deal? It's not like I've never asked a guy out before."

"Well, not right after someone accused you of being Freddie's rebound girl."

Sam gave a snort, "as if Freddie is cool enough to have a rebound girl. He doesn't even know what a rebound is!" She made a grabbing motion at the cheese, but Carly's hands saw it coming. Carly stretched out her limb, making the product an unreachable goal.

"What I don't get," Carly continued as she fends off the increasingly agitated blonde, "is that you just let it slide. I know I stopped you from attacking, but since when have you let anything slide? Since when were you passive aggressive?!"

"Give it!" Sam leapt from her seat and clambered on top of Carly, her hands reaching for her food.

"No!"

At that moment, Spencer chose to walk in the apartment. The two girls were still struggling on the couch and too engrossed in their own little bubble to even look at him. Spencer paused. To an ordinary guardian, this sight was not something you would ever want to see. It didn't look good, and not the least bit ladylike. But to a guardian such as Spencer, who's seen stranger things, it wasn't all that disconcerting.

"You girls play nice," He called out as he walked to his room.

The two, both out of air, lay still on the couch with their limbs entangled. "Geez," Sam said as she blew her bangs out of her eyes, "Why are you freaking out? I'm a teenage girl with teenage hormones and I haven't had a date in almost a year!"

Carly squirmed and wiggled her way out from under Sam. Sam sat back up, setting her friend free from under her but still eyeing the cheese with an eagle-like glare. The bite mark on it stared at her menacingly, almost begging her to take another.

"Whatever, Sam," Carly said as she sat back up. She looked down at her shirt and vexingly dusted herself off, picking up strands of blonde hair in the process. She glanced back at Sam and found her friend still glaring at the now flattened stick of animal byproduct in her hands. "You know what, Sam, you're obviously so in love with Freddie that you had to ask out your teammate just to prove that you're not. Here," Carly threw her back her food, which Sam caught expertly, "do what you want to do, but don't expect me to approve of you dragging Ziggy into it. And don't expect me to act dumb." Carly moved to the edge of the couch. She picked up the remote and continued flipping the channels.

As Carly watched Spongebob hit Patrick with a baseball bat, she felt something land on her lap. She looked down and found Sam's string cheese, its appearance the way it was when she gave it back.

Carly flipped off the television and, with a push on the couch, adjusted herself to face Sam. Nothing was said as both waited for the other to speak first.

Sam's palms reached her face. "Aw, dammit, why can't you just tell me how I'm supposed to feel instead of making me think."

Carly smiled. She scooted closer to her and linked their arms. "Well here's what I think. I think you should cancel your date with a certain teammate. Just because something's bothering you doesn't mean you have to cover it up with something else. Besides, if you wanted to be more obvious, you might as well have asked out Spencer."

Spencer, always having perfect timing, wandered out of his room. "Who 'might as well have asked out Spencer'? Because she should. Even if it's a he, he should."

Carly turned to her brother. This was not the right time. "Please spare yourself and don't ask."

"Why? I must have you know I am a very charming--"

"Sam," Carly cut him off.

"Oooohhh.." Spencer drew out awkwardly as he looked down at his hands. "I think I'm going to go back in and pretend this wasn't awkward... or illegal," he muttered as he stumbled back into his room.

"Your brother is weird."

"I know, but I guess weirder things have happened," she smiled as they glanced at each other. From her peripheral vision, she could see a bump on Sam's front pocket. Knowing what was in there, she reached over to retrieve something from worn plaid shorts. She felt Sam twitch slightly from under her hand. Carly dangled the phone in front of its owner. Eyes behind blonde bangs followed the back and forth movement of the phone, then down as it landed on a her lap.

Sam smirked as she mindlessly felt the bumps on the keypad with her thumb. "Am I a heart breaker or what?"

Carly rolled her eyes, "Whatever makes you happy, Sam."

That would have been it. Sam would have called and canceled her date. Everyone else would end up the way they were: back to status quo. Sam and Freddie could go on being completely oblivious of each other while Carly waits for them to just get it over with and make out, swap spit and confess their undying love for each other while they run off to the sunset. But no. Fate was completely unpredictable and had other things in plan. Fate, like everything that went on that day, was weird. It was the theme of the day. Because before all that should have happened had the chance to actually happen, a possibly hormonally confused teenager barged through the door.

"Ola, Sam and Carly! And you," he pointed at Sam, "will never guess what happened to me today," Freddie exclaimed with a tone filled with faux cheer.

"Oh! Wow, surprise me!" Sam replied with wide eyes and matching his tone.

"I was talking with my AV clubs friend when your friend Zimmerwhatsisname approached me, telling me you asked him out, and haha," Freddie slapped his knee in forced laughter, "_asked_ if I was cool with you guys going out on a date!"

Carly glanced at Sam, noticing that she had pocketed her phone.

"Can you believe that?" Freddie continued, "Asking me if it was ok, pff! Why, why wouldn't it be ok, right?"

Sam gathered her breath, unsure of what to say. "He was just-- making sure my friends, or whatever you are, were cool with him. He talked to Carly too, right Carls?" Sam glanced at Carly and elbowed her discreetly.

"Wow," Freddie nodded, not even waiting for Carly to confirm, "sounds like a keeper."

Silence followed as the three didn't know what else to do. The tension in the room started to build up, surrounding their silent exchanges. Then just as it reached its peak, a new pair of feet stepped into the room, followed by a voice.

"Hey guys! Wanna watch Galaxy Wars? Socko couldn't make our guy's night." Again, Spencer had wonderful timing.

Glad that someone had come in, Carly walked over to Spencer and took the DVDs from his hands. "What happened?"

"Girl troubles," he replied shrugging. With an exaggerated sad face, he added, "and I thought it was brothas before chicas."

"Don't you hate it when that happens," Freddie spoke up, "when your friend drops you like a hot potato?"

"Well, I don't mind I--" Spencer attempted to defend Socko, but Sam interrupts.

"Excuse me, Socko didn't drop him like a hot potato. He just had other priorities."

"Look, guys, it's not a big--"

"When you have an understanding about spending time together, you don't just turn back!" Spencer nodded sarcastically to himself. Great, another interruption, this time by Freddie.

"Dork, I don't know what's wrong with your thong, but last time I checked Spencer wasn't Socko's boyfriend!" Sam took a threatening step towards Freddie.

"Thong? What's wrong with my THONG?" Freddie yelled as his throat vein made another appearance. "It's you who's unaware of people's feelings!"

Carly looked back and forth between them. It was going to be one of those days, she thought to herself, as she sat down. She mentally listed down first aid materials and tried to remember where they could be found in the house to prepare for any possible occurrences that may force her to play doctor. Spencer, on the other hand bent down to whisper in his baby sister's ear. "I don't think they're talking about me and Socko anymore."

"Feelings, I'll sock _you_ and your feelings!!" A clenched fist hitting an open palm followed the exclamation.

"God, Sam, why is your EQ that of a four year old?" A frustrated Freddie angrily pulled at his hair. "You're so stupid when it comes to other people! That's why no guy has ever stomached dating you for more than three weeks!"

Carly pushed herself off the couch once she heard the last statement, not believing the audacity nor the stupidity of it. The word CRAP flashed in front of Carly's eyes. The word CRAP flashed in neon lights as a blinking sign pointed at Sam's irked face and readied stance. She knew that stance-- Sam was ready to pounce.

"Seriously, Sam," Freddie continued despite the sight of Sam's now flaring nostrils, "you don't know ANYTHING about guys! Either you get them injured or make them cheat on you!"

He had gone too far. As if in slow motion Sam ran towards him and tackled him to the ground. Freddie landed on his back, his legs splayed out awkwardly as Sam had one knee on his side and another digging on his upper thigh, only a few frightening inches away from a very painful spot. Freddie yelped in pain as Sam's fingernails scratched his chest in the process of clutching his shirt. Freddie closed his eyes, expecting any moment for his skull to repetitively hit the ground. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and found tableau. Carly was frozen behind Sam, her hands outstretched yet not touching Sam's hunched form, scared that any sudden movements might detonate the situation. Spencer was behind the couch, he had just gotten out of his bathroom. He was clutching a roll of toilet paper on one hand and a bottle of Isopropyl alcohol on the other-- Spencer mentally reminded himself to prepare a first aid kit. Sam was on top of him still, gripping his shirt as her knuckles dug on his chest, the feeling greatly contrasting with the sensation of the ends of Sam's hair tickling his cheek.

"Let him go, Sam." Carly whispered.

Sam, in silent reply, pulled Freddie closer to her until their noses were only inches apart. Freddie winced as his attacker eyed him up and down. When she was ready, she pushed him away with a grunt. She then stood up and walked towards the exit, but making sure to step on Freddie's hand on the way.

Freddie gathered himself, adjusted his shirt and dusted himself off, a well rehearsed ritual throughout the years.

Before Sam opened the door, she turned around, a vague sense of familiarity washed over the trio.

"I hate you," she said, an even more familiar phrase. "I hate you, and this time I mean it." The door banged shut.

The three stared at the closed door. Spencer took the first move. He leaped towards the side table and grabbed his keys. "I'll make sure she gets home ok," he assured Carly as he walked out.

Freddie fixed his collar once more and turned towards Carly, "What's up with her?"

Instead of being greeted by a neutral peacemaker, a small, slightly smelly object hit him. He looked down and raised his eyebrows when he found a half eaten stick of cheese. He looked back up and was then greeted with a pillow to his face. "What's wrong with YOU?" Carly shouted, followed by two more hits.

"She stepped on my hand!" was his defensive reply.

He was hit one more time.

It was a rarity that Carly took Sam's side for she was usually the one who took it too far. But this time, Freddie was being an idiot. Maybe her father was right. Maybe boys really were dumb.

"Well!" Freddie shouted back, but nothing followed. After a pause, he followed with, "She shouldn't be asking out random annoying guys!"

"God, you two are IMPOSSIBLE! Why don't you two just make out and get it over with!"

**note: Gahh! ...I kept on writing and rewriting this chapter. It never seemed right. They just seemed too.. out of it. But eh. I just said, whatever, and uploaded it. So.. if you guys find any grammar or spelling errors.. tell me. I'm pretty sure I have a bunch up there from my constant rewriting.**


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